


Paradise Lost

by Niglia



Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: AU, Amnesia, Drama, F/M, Frankenstein!AU, Fusion, Hurt/Comfort, Memory Loss, Romance, beware: no beta, modern!AU, slightly angst, some chapter may be more klaus!centric than others
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-09
Updated: 2016-05-16
Packaged: 2018-06-07 10:46:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6800587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Niglia/pseuds/Niglia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just when she thought her nightmare was over, Caroline received a frightening and unexpected visit. Niklaus was back, and he had no intention of letting her go. [A Klaroline Frankenstein!AU]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Primo

**PARADISE LOST**

**I**

 

_Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay_

_To mould Me man? Did I solicit thee_

_From darkness to promote me?—_

[John Milton, Paradise Lost (x. 743-5)]

 

When she crossed her doorstep, Caroline found only somberness and silence waiting for her, as had happened every day for the last year. Her hand went to search the switch on the right side of the wall, but after pressing it a few times the house remained in complete darkness, informing her of the absence of electrical current.

“Crap. Every time it rains…”

With a sigh, she closed the door behind her, threw her bag on a chair nearby and took off her coat, hanging it in the closet. Then, giving in to the dark, she crossed the corridor going by memory and she went gropingly toward the kitchen, from whose window came luckily the light of the street lamps.

The candles were in a drawer of the dresser: she took one and wedged it in the neck of a Coca Cola bottle, lighting it and giving it a few seconds to fuel. Then she crossed the living room and went to her bedroom, holding one hand in front of the flame to prevent it extinguished; lightning lit up for a moment the living area, soon after followed by a thunder that made her jump.

As she undressed to get into something more comfortable, removing sweatshirt and pants, Caroline had the strange feeling that there was something wrong. Maybe it was the dark or the time, still the sensation that something was going to happen did not leave her – it was the same as the night Tyler had the accident, after all. Suddenly she felt a bundle of nerves, and her whole body seemed to tense in apprehension.

Caroline closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then gave up finding her pajamas and she just put on a robe over her underwear. Then she took the candle and turned to the door – her intention was to approach the phone and stay in the dining room until the current was back or until she would have the courage to call Stefan, asking him to join her. However, she didn’t manage to move for a dark shadow, massive and imposing, loomed in front of her, as if it had materialized out of the darkness itself.

A quick lighting illuminated the living room, shedding light on the figure and baring familiar features – dark, tussled curls, pale and marred skin, vitreous yellow eyes, a mouth pressed in a grim line – and she screamed. The bottle slipped from her hand, going to shatter on the floor and depriving her of the faint light of the candle.

The figure quickly covered the distance between them and pressed a hand over her mouth, making her cry in disjointed mumblings. “Silence,” he ordered her with a hiss, hoarsely. “I’m not here to hurt you.”

Caroline stared at him with wide eyes, unable to restrain the tears caused by fear and keep them from slipping down her cheeks toward the rough hand that prevented her to issue a single noise. However, she nodded, slowly, and that movement seemed to be sufficient to make the shadow low his hand. Thus regained the ability to speak, all that Caroline could mutter was, “Niklaus.”

On hearing his name, the creature stood up and seemed to be even higher, but he did not back away or moved one millimeter, forcing the woman to bend her head to be able to peer into the darkness. “So you remember the monster you created and then abandoned, mh? Good. Though it’s Klaus, now. Yet it is curious, because I thought by now you had forgotten me, relegated me to the identity of a nightmare.”

Caroline tried to back away a few steps, but the presence of the dresser behind her halted her movements. “Niklaus –  _Klaus_ , listen to me…”

“No!  _You_  listen to me!” He cut her off violently, grabbing her shoulders to keep her from getting away. “You’ve got rid of me like one does with garbage; you think I will ever forgive you? I did not ask you to give me life, but you did, and you should continue to take care of me like you did before you started to get distracted by that man so much to allow him to take you away from me… Say, have you forsaken me in order to be free to bring him to bed? Yes, yes, I know everything, I’ve seen everything! Did you think I would leave without even try to oppose me? I’ve been spying you for so long. I wanted to understand the reason behind your decision, to understand and justify your behavior, because I just could not realize how could you go from being so sweet and good to being so heartless… And eventually I understood, yes! I realized so many things in these recent months. I understand that I have no other purpose in my life, than to belong to you: I am yours, I am your son, your creature, but then I am also your friend and companion, and even your lover, if you so desire! And just as so, you’re mine. Do you understand?  _You are mine_!”

That last word came out like a roar, shaking Caroline from head to toe. Everything had been so sudden that she could not predict the next move of the creature, which caught her off guard. Klaus fell ravenously on her lips, pressing their mouths together with such ardor that she couldn’t help but groan: although cold as death, his lips were soft and plump and desperately familiar.

Caroline could not free herself, for he was too strong. His hands held her tight as steel chains, so the only devised way to lessen the violence of his assault was to surrender and open her lips, allowing him to find the outburst that he wanted – her grandmother always said that the most delicate reeds survive the storms because they bend to the wind. So, as soon as he found an opening, Klaus deepened the kiss with greater vehemence, violating Caroline’s mouth with an impetus that was meant to impose his mark and his possession on her more than show her who knows what distorted form of affection. Yet, after the initial anger and fury, the creature became aware of the woman’s total impassivity, and a thick guilt began to creep treacherous in his soul, making him deeply ashamed for that gesture. Therefore, gently, he turned away from her, easing his grip on her shoulders until completely lower his hands, mortified.

“I did not want to hurt you,” he repeated softly, looking at her pale face and red eyes, who seemed to shine with tears in the dark twilight. “I’m sorry. I let my anger get the best of me, and…” His voice trailed off in the tense silence of the room, and for a long few seconds, she only heard the sound of their heavy breathing and the rain beating on the windows.

It was Caroline, unexpectedly, who spoke again. “Oh God, what’s wrong with your hand?”

Confused by the sudden change of topic, Klaus looked down on both his hands, and only then he noticed the blood that smeared his right one, running off the ground from an open wound. “Oh,” he murmured, as if the hand did not belong to him: in fact, he didn’t even feel pain. “I broke a window to come inside.”

Caroline’s professional instinct got the better of any other thought she had on her mind – or maybe it only served to focus her attention on something that would not make her run away screaming desperately. She walked over to Klaus, being careful not to walk over the broken glass from before and she took his bloody hand, lifting it up: it was really a bad cut, it was fortunate that there were no remaining stuck pieces of glass.

“Come,” she said, with a polite yet firm tone that brooked no argument. The habit of always doing what she said made Klaus following her without a word to the kitchen, where he sat on a chair and waited that she carefully light up more candles. “I’ll get my bag,” she informed him, disappearing for a few moments in the dark hallway. Klaus’ disgraceful behavior and his curt speech seemed to have been momentarily forgotten.

Caroline carefully cleaned the wound, by washing and disinfecting it before moving on to mend the cut that separated the back from side to side, all without ever look up and risk of crossing the eyes of the creature that she was facing. She had not yet decided how to deal with the whole situation – in the meantime, she just silently cursed the persistent absence of current.

Klaus, however, was not by nature a very patient man. “You hate me so much, then, Caroline, that I’m not even worthy of a measly look?” He asked in a low voice, without taking his eyes off her for not to miss even the smallest of her movements. “I’m really so repulsive and monstrous in the eyes of the one who created me?”

Her blue eyes rose on him for a brief moment, long enough for him to see them filled not with horror, but rather a deep sorrow, before they lowered again on her job. “You shouldn’t have come here, Klaus,” she said, her voice wrapped in a palpable fatigue. “Why did you come back? What do you want from me?”

The surprised and hurt eyes of the creature took her off guard. “Do you really… Do you really think I would be able to leave and to invent a new life, away from you? When all that is in my past and in my mind is you? What I want from you, you ask… Do you really need an answer? No, please, let me finish. When you forsake me, I felt like dying, and only now that I have you here next to me I can breathe again. Do you not believe it? Caroline, I’ve already said the words – I am yours, and yours only. You may also try to kill me, and I wouldn’t avert it. Indeed, I would guide your hand to help you, if that would make you happy… A year away was enough to understand that the pain I feel, here,”

and he patted his chest, hard, over his heart, as to give more force to his words,

“It is caused solely by the absence of you in my life. I was unfair before, there are no excuses for the unworthy manner in which I behaved. My patience was exhausted, and I had accumulated so much anger, you know… But now I want to talk and reason with you in a civilized manner, like an honest man. After all, that’s what you taught me, remember? Certainly not to be a scoundrel. I know the gratitude, and I also know many other feelings, my soul is so full that it could erupt at any moment! But I digress. As I have already told you and repeated, I am not here for revenge or hurt you. I would be able, yes, indeed you have made me capable, making me a hundred times stronger than any ordinary man, let alone a woman, with all due respect I have towards you; yet I will not raise a finger on you, neither one way or another, unless it is you who ask it of me. You have my word, Caroline… Can you trust me?”

How could she not? Klaus was right, and she knew, in her heart, that he would never do anything against her – unless, of course, he had completely changed since the last time she saw him. So, she decided to give him the confidence that he seemed to crave so much, and nodded.

Klaus seemed incredibly relieved. “Good,” he sighed, a hint of a smile gracing his lips. “Good.”

* * *

Caroline couldn’t sleep. The thought that he was just a few meters away from her, in her small living room, made it impossible to fall asleep. For that reason she kicked off the covers, slipped out of bed and hurriedly pulled on her robe, walking on tiptoe to the door of her room and opening it up, in silence, hoping not to wake his guest.

Caution that proved to be useless, because he wasn’t sleeping either. Caroline appeared in the doorway, leaning against the jamb with her arms crossed and watching him through the twilight, sitting on the couch with his shoulders down and head bowed close in his hands, as if absorbed in a problem too difficult to resolve for a single person. But when he heard the creak of the door he looked up almost suddenly, looking as if he did not understand why she wasn’t asleep and instead she had gone to him. For a long moment neither spoke: they simply settle with the same circumspection used between prey and predator, waiting for the moment when one of them would let their guard down and be captured.

Caroline was the one to surrender. Still without saying a single word, she crossed the room, reaching Klaus and stopping to stand in front of him, forcing him to bend his neck to be able to continue looking at her. She released her grip on her robe and put her hands on the shoulders of the creature, hesitantly at first, then with more decision, and finally she pulled him against herself and hugged him, letting him bury his face on her stomach. Immediately Klaus’ arms rose in turn and surrounded her hips, his hands grasping the back of her robe; the shy and cautious hug turned into a fierce and vigorous one, which tore a groan from both.

“God,” she whispered, her lips pressed against the creature’s blond curls. “I’ve missed you  _so much_.”

Klaus trembled, his fingers like claws sunk into Caroline’s flesh, and only when she felt a slight wetness over her belly she noticed that he was crying.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

 **Word count** : 2328.

_~~To be continued~~ _


	2. Yet from those flames

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Modern!AU, mostly Klaus!centric, slightly angst.

**PARADISE LOST**

**II**

 

_Yet from those flames_

_No light, but rather darkness visible._

[John Milton, Paradise Lost (Lines 62-63)]

_A year and a half earlier_.

His first memories were of her eyes.

Well, if he had to be completely honest with himself, the first thing he remembered was pain – a cutting, atrocious pain, which darted through his recently awakened body, bringing ache to every nook of his limbs and forcing an inhuman howl out of his parched lips.

But then, when that blinding pain had slightly subsided, and his eyes had started to focus on his surroundings, it was his Maker who suddenly appeared in his line of sight. Her tired eyes caught immediately his attention – blue and shimmering with unshed tears, surrounded by a red shadow, they stood out like precious gems in the fair paleness of her skin.

They looked at each other with bated breaths, the otherwise silent room invaded by the clatter of thunders coming from the outside. He didn’t know where he was – hell, he didn’t even know _who_ and _what_ he was – but the mere presence of that woman in front of him was enough to somewhat placate and reassure him. He was breathing heavily, his gasps hoarse, but at least his wails had ceased.

Not looking away from her, he had tried to get up by leveraging on his own arms, but he seemed not to have complete control of his own body yet, for the simple movement was laborious and he moaned, exhausted, perspiration beading his forehead.

She quickly went to his aid, curling an arm around his waist and letting him use her as a support. She hushed him, not caring about his sweat and blood that stained her clothes, and helped him sit up. His long and uncoordinated legs hung over the edge of the operating table; his eyes fell on the several scars and seams that tainted his flesh. His mouth opened in a shocked pant, and his hand searched blindly for hers, grasping it with ferociousness, questions in his gaze.

“Hush”, she soothed him returning his squeeze, even though he could not understand her. “It’s okay, you’re safe. You’re going to be fine.”

Her quiet voice seemed to be enough to reassure him, or maybe it was simply the awareness of not being alone anymore. Whatever the reason, he let her take care of him without rebelling.

In the hours that followed, he found himself tamed by the loving and yet hesitant cures of his Maker. After a quick standard medical examination, which he did not understand, she proceeded to wash him. He had been immersed in a tub filled up to the edge with warm water, then she cleaned up from his skin blood residues and some other concoctions of unknown nature; her cupped hand brought water over his shaved head, wiping carefully the sensitive skin near the scars, and he nearly purred at that.

She was warm compared to him, soft: on the contrary, his flesh was ice cold, stiff, like a corpse. He trembled under her touch – he sighed and relaxed against her, feeling the pain being washed away with his own blood by her little hands. She spoke softly, her voice a pleasant lullaby in his ears even though he couldn’t understand a single word. He felt so tired and confused – he had no idea of what was happening to him, he was only acutely aware of her and in her, he found his grasp on reality, his support in the storm.

However, she seemed to be afraid of him. He didn’t know why he thought so, but he was so certain – she tended to wince when he used to suddenly go near her, and he could easily hear her heart beat frantically inside the little cage of her chest. She moved cautiously around him, as if she feared that a gesture or a wrong word could trigger some violent behavior. So he decided to offer her the same courtesy, and he tried to be patient and wait for her to approach him instead of the opposite; this seemed to calm her, and as soon as she began feeling comfortable with him, she started to smile slightly.

She had explained to him that his name was Niklaus – she even touched his chest to stress that concept, repeating that word over and over until he succeeded in utter it – with a strained voice and guttural sounds, but still. She had smiled again, and he found himself mimicking that curious gesture – snatching her an awed gasp, and filling him with pride.

As soon as he had understood the most basic differences between himself and his Maker – her femininity opposed to his masculinity, her humanity against his being _something else_ – Niklaus began to refer to her simply as The Woman. He didn’t know her name at the beginning – she certainly had not bothered to tell him, afraid perhaps of the intimacy that that knowledge would have created between them. So he had struggled for a while, perplexed and unsettled: if he himself had a name – which was his most precious possession, for he didn’t have much else – why she had not?

Of course, he had reflected upon all of this solely when he had found himself alone, much later, trying to survive in a world he did not understand and living with the knowledge of having been abandoned by the only person that had seemed to care for him. She didn’t look at him as if he were a monster – she didn’t pay attention to his scars, she only tended to them daily with the utmost gentleness and without an ounce of horror.

Her fear wasn’t due to his appearance – now he knew it – but to his temper; and she was always smiling when he acted quiet and composed, more like a gentleman than the monster he too thought himself to be.

And in those moments, when he didn’t let his brusque nature rule him, she approached him with new teachings and discoveries. The Woman taught him to read, she taught him to write – he could scribble his name and several other words just in the first week; and he loved hearing her read out loud for his benefit, for he had the chance to listen to her lovely voice and admire her sweet features without interruptions.

Sometimes, in those moments – when he attentively looked at her, with an expert eye – his fingers twitched as if the muscles of his body knew more of himself that his brain did – as if something was missing in him, or in his head. Was there something he had forgotten about? Hadn’t the Woman told him everything already?

He found that he wanted to make use of his abilities, even though he did not know what they were. He struggled to remember what he wasn’t even aware of having forgotten, and this was driving him mad – a shame that he could not put that into words to explain to her.

Unfortunately, that routine didn’t last long. After three weeks of cohabitation, in which she went out just for a few hours to do the grocery shopping, his Maker began to spend less and less time at home. Some days she was with him during the light, some others during the dark – and he found himself more often alone, forced to find ways to entertain himself while he waited for her to come back.

“You can’t go outside,” she had admonished fervently, her beautiful eyes slightly wide. “You’re not… _ready_. Do you understand me, Niklaus?” She always said his name when she wanted to make sure that he would take her seriously. “When I’m gone, you stay inside.”

He nodded, obviously, because he wouldn’t want her to become worried on his account.

Finally alone in the house, he explored. He went through her photos, her closet, her drawers – he flipped through every single book he could put his hands on – but he found the real treasure inside a book on the nightstand next to her bed. He found her name – _Caroline_. The book was a simple novel, its title he didn’t find important to remember, but its pages were worn out and its cover slightly bumped; she must have read it a lot of times, surely. Inside, on the title page, there was a handwritten note.

_To my Caroline – happy anniversary! I love you, T._

He read those words until he memorized them, sitting on her bed, wrapped in her familiar scent. _Caroline_. He was sure that that was her name, because he had found it written over other objects around the house – a mug, a sweater, her mails. He wondered why she had never told him – didn’t she like it, perhaps? Was she ashamed? _Caroline_. Such sweetness in such a little word! The way it filled his mouth, how his lips parted to utter it with extreme adoration. _Ca-ro-li-ne_.

If that were the only word he would ever learn, he would be happy.

When she returned home, that evening, that was how he welcomed her – waiting near the door with excited eyes, almost like a pup greeting his master.

“Hello, Caroline.”

She froze just over the threshold, blinking. “Niklaus?” Her tone was a question – how had he discovered it?

He simply smiled – a gesture that came to him even more often now – and he tenderly hold her hand, trying not to feel offense in the way she was trembling. “Caroline”, he repeated, more gently.

His Caroline.

* * *

_Present day._

“Caroline?”

His low voice came subdued, his face still pressed against her stomach, her fingers entwined in his hair. Her robe, as well as her cheeks, were wet with tears – she hadn’t even realized she had started crying too.

“Mh?” She hummed, not trusting her own voice.

He released a long breath, and he moved back barely enough to look at her with his inhuman yellow eyes. “May I sleep with you?”

Her fingertips grated lightly the old scar hidden under his hair, watching him shivering at that. “You can’t stay here forever, Klaus,” she whispered cautiously. “You know that. It’s not fair of you to–”

“I mean just sleep, and only for tonight,” he interrupted. “You are my home, Caroline, and I’ve longed for you for so long – _please_.”

How could she refuse him? It had been impossible for her not to think about him during the last year. Every single day, when she woke up, her mind ran unwittingly to him – what was he doing? Where was he? Was he safe? Was he happy? _Did he loathe her?_

Caroline couldn’t help but wonder if he had already forgotten about her, or if had started to nurture some kind of revenge. She did give him his life back – or some twisted version of it – but then, like a cruel god, she had sent him away in a world for which he was not completely ready. Only because she was afraid, and selfish! He should hate her, instead of begging to get in her bed. Guilt gripped her insides, making her sick; her hands lowered to cup tenderly his face.

“I thought you’d hate me,” she muttered, her thumbs drawing circles over his stubble.

Although he leaned towards her palm, pressing his cheek over it, his voice was cold when he answered. “Oh, I did.” His eyes pierced through hers, unforgiving – no trace of the earlier pleading in them. “You hurt me, Caroline. You made me and you left me – worst, you abandoned me. I’ve hated you for a long time.”

Caroline did not want to acknowledge the sudden chill that ran down her spine – it was fear, pure and simple, for she could see in his eyes something new, something dangerous, that wasn’t there the last time, and for a moment it had terrified her. It was the new hardness in his jaw line, the steel in his eyes, the palpable strength under his skin: he had grown away from her, turned in a different person, and Caroline didn’t know if the man before her was the same of a year ago.

Therefore, she sighed, pulling her hands from his face and sitting on the little table in front of the couch. He let her, even though his eyes depicted the longing for her touch. She started: “Then why–”

“Why I came back?” Klaus finished for her. “I’ve already told you. I couldn’t stay away.”

Caroline looked at her Creature – he was definitely different from the last time she had seen him. Gone was his naivety, gone his malleability: he carried himself with pride, now – his spine right, his head tall, his chin high; he looked as if he had seen the whole word and, unimpressed, he now judged everything as beneath him. She had little doubt that that was what he believed – Klaus was, after all, a different kind of being. An evolution, perhaps, of the human race? Not dead, but not quite alive either.

A little bit of both – a _hybrid_ , she had written at the dawn of her own researches.

And – where had that thought came from? – he was somewhat handsome, too. His scars did nothing to dampen his beauty – instead, they added to his charm. She was very aware of every little gash he hid beneath his clothes – she could almost feel them under the fabric of his Henley, rough and hard. She pondered what they would have looked like now, a year later, without her ointments, her cures – she wondered if he would have let her look at them, her scientific interest suddenly picked.

However, Klaus had ceased a long time ago to be a mere experiment, a cavy – and Caroline did not intend to treat him like one. He didn’t deserve it, not after the hell she surely had put him through.

“You also said that you wanted to talk. About what?”

He expected her question, even though he would have preferred a different setting of it. In an unlikely display of candor, Klaus hadn’t imagined her tears, her weariness, or the simple effect she had on him. He had thought it would have been easy to vent his rage and his frustration on her, to make her beg for his forgiveness, frighten her, threaten her – he knew all about her new lover, he had even told her so! He had planned to use him against her in his revenge.

How could have imagined that the only thing that would have filled his mind, as soon as his eyes had fallen on her, would have be the desire to let himself drown in her embrace?

Klaus hadn’t planned to fall into the trap of her comfort – he should be making her scream and cry for very different reasons right now, not weeping himself for the anguish and the longing he felt in her presence.

“I don’t want to talk about anything, now,” he whispered with a broken voice, hating himself for being so damn _weak_. His life away from her was not something he would like to dig up right now. He was too tired, and wasn’t about to throw away the offer of her trust to tell her how angry he really was with her – not with the taste of Caroline’s lips still on his own. “Please,” he added, mortified, when she didn’t answer.

Caroline let out a shuddering breath, but her eyes never left his and he dared to hope.

“Fine, I guess,” she eventually granted, too jaded to put out a real fight. “Tonight we sleep, but tomorrow we talk.” Her voice was firm even through the fatigue.

He nodded, standing up and offering her his hand: she took it instinctively, with no hesitation, and without knowing that every little show of affection lessened a bit the extent of his anger.

And, when she curled against him under the warm of her covers, falling asleep so quickly and so trusting near him – their limbs intertwining! – Klaus could not help but question the importance of his vendetta.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

 **Word count:** 2657.

 

~~_To be continued_ ~~


End file.
